Chemamüll

Wooden statues orchemamüll

Chemamüll('wooden person', fromMapucheche'people' andmamüll'wood') areMapuchestatues made of wood used to signal the grave of a deceased person.

Description

Proportion of achemamüll,Mapuche funeral statue, over a person.

Thechemamüllare carved wooden statues, usually more than 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) tall, that represent the stylized body and head of a human being. Statues may have male or female features. The Mapuche used whole logs of eitherNothofagus obliqua,a hardwood, orlaurelfor theirchemamüll.

The Mapuche madechemamüllinpre-Columbian timesin a manner similar toheadstones.According to testimony in books,chemamüllhelped the deceased's soul reunite with its ancestors. This sculpture stood by the deceased during the funeral and was then erected over the grave.

External links

• Chemamüll images in Precolumbian museum, in Spanish
• Weblog in Spanish aboutchemamüll